The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-11-19
WHALING IN THE POLAR SEA.
Pcriis Encountered by tho Norwo-
CLANS in Capturing the Leviathan.

Pcrils Encoun tered by tho Norwo-
gians in Capturing the Leviathan.
Every simmer the Polar sea, of the
coast of Finmarken, Norway, is alive
with whalers and their chasers. The
principal game Of the Norwegian is the
great blue whale. attaining length OF
some ninety to one hundred feet. This
mammoth champion of the Polar ocean
possesses immense strength, and the
whaler's 'tackle" must necessarily be
solid. When killed the whale sinks to
the bottom, and the captor is apt to
lose his game. TO prevent this Mr..
Svend Foyn, the pioneer of the whaling
Industry. has invented new harpoon
whercto is affixed self-explodlng
bomb I'll led with q gas-producing COM
position. When the whale is harpoon-
ID the bomb buried in the flesh OF the
animal explodes and the gas produced,
pcrmeating the veins and cavities OF
The leviathan, prevents him from sink
ing.
How pcrlous and hazardous whaling
Is even with the most perfect appliances
and weapons. is well illustrated by the
following narration by an eyewitness.
1t was June day. with rough wealth
or, rougher even than usual on sum.
mer day at Vardo. The little fleet of
small. yet strong. whaling steamers
must try their luck, however, and off
they 60 in early morning, steering to
and fro. battling with the high sea. To
no avail Not whale was to be seen
anywhere and the sea increasing, and
the wind developing almost into a
storm, and they turned and steamed
homeward one after another, all but
one. He must try little further. The
waves tossed the plucky craft like n
shell; the harpooner on watch must
take care not to be thrown headforc-
most into the frothing waves. Yet no
whale; nothing to be seen or heard but
the white mountains and thunder of the
rolling waves, and the shrill whining of
the storm through the steamer. The
captain at last found the search fruit
less, and turned homeward. The vessel
arriving ut the mouth of the harbor, a
big whale shot up in front, almost
touching the bow of the steamer. The
harpooner, surprised at first, was, how
ever, up to his business. A flash, n
roar, and in the very moment the har-
pooh was buried to the handle in the
big whale, but strange, the bomb didn't
explode, and the animal, suffering in
tense agonies. shot out to sea, towing
the steamer after him. Against the
towering waves. against the raging
storm. the whaler went with lightning
speed though its engine was reversed.
For eight miles the terrible race went
on, only the masts and the chimney OF
the steamer in the meantime being Wis
ble above the waters. The vessel was
strong, however. and the crew tried
men, who did not propose to let 90.
But what's that? A iishing-boat
with its keel upmost. and two men
clinging for life to the wreck! To cut
the line and save the men was the har-
pooner's first thought Then we will lose
the whale, the line, and the harpoon.
thousands of crowns worth, was h S
second. II must soon be done and in n
few minutes we can be back and save
the men, was his conclusion, and on the
vessel went. Halo. there. what is upp
The line burst, the whale sank out of
sight and the steamer tossed aimless on
the rolling waves. There was nothing
more to do. The captive was free, sink
ing slowly TO die. But two human
lives were saved. and the whalers con-
sidered themselves richly rewarded for
their terrible race and the loss of their
game as we'll"